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Bitcoin Breaks $80K Barrier: Will Altcoins Follow?

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Bitcoin Breaks $80K Barrier: Will Altcoins Follow?

Key points:

  • Bitcoin’s rally through $79,500 opens the door to a move toward $84,000.
  • Ether, Dogecoin and Hyperliquid are showing strength, but the other major altcoins are yet to pick up momentum.

Bitcoin (BTC) opened the new week with a rally above $80,500, suggesting the bulls are attempting to take charge. Analysts are closely watching the $80,000 level, as some believe a failure to close above it could trigger a move toward $60,000. 

However, crypto analyst Matthew Hyland said in a post on X that traders calling BTC’s fall to $60,000 and lower ‘will be the ones flipping bullish late above $90K.” 

BTC’s 30-day liquidation map shows that a rally above $84,000 would trigger $2.85 billion worth of short liquidations across all exchanges.

Crypto market data daily view. Source: TradingView

A positive sign for the bulls is that BTC’s rise continues to be supported by institutional investors. Capriole Investments founder Charles Edwards said in a post on X that institutions have been “slurping up 500%+ of Bitcoin’s daily mined supply.” Such instances in the past have boosted prices by more than 24% in the following month. If history repeats, BTC may surge to around $96,000.

Could BTC and the major altcoins sustain the breakout? Let’s analyze the charts of the top 10 cryptocurrencies to find out. 

S&P 500 Index price prediction

The S&P 500 Index (SPX) remains in a strong uptrend, rising to a new all-time high of 7,272 on Friday.

SPX daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

The upsloping 20-day exponential moving average (7,043) indicates an advantage to buyers, but the relative strength index (RSI) near the overbought zone signals that a minor consolidation or correction is possible in the near term.

The 7,000 level is the crucial support to watch out for on the downside. A solid bounce off the 7,000 level suggests that the bulls have flipped it into support. That improves the prospects of a rally to 7,500. 

On the contrary, a close below the 7,000 support may sink the index to the 50-day simple moving average (6,827).

US Dollar Index price prediction

The US Dollar Index (DXY) has been stuck between the 50-day SMA (98.97) and the 97.74 support.

DXY daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

The downsloping 20-day EMA (98.61) and the RSI in the negative territory indicate that the bears are at a slight advantage. If the price breaks below the 97.74 support, the index may tumble toward the 96.21 level.

Conversely, a close above the 50-day SMA suggests that the bulls are on a comeback. The index may rally to the 100.54 resistance level, where buyers are expected to encounter solid selling pressure from bears.

Bitcoin price prediction

BTC has broken above the $79,500 resistance, signaling the resumption of the uptrend toward $84,000.

BTC/USDT daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

The uptrend is expected to face solid selling pressure at $84,000, but if the bulls prevent the BTC price from dipping below the 20-day EMA ($76,634), the possibility of a breakout increases. If the $84,000 level is broken, the BTC/USDT pair may surge toward the pattern target of $92,000.

Time is running out for the bears. They will have to swiftly yank the price below $76,000 to weaken bullish momentum. The pair may then tumble to the 50-day SMA ($72,798).

Ether price prediction

Ether (ETH) rose above the 20-day EMA ($2,298) on Friday and is marching toward the $2,465 overhead resistance.

ETH/USDT daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Sellers will attempt to stall the rally at the $2,465 level, but if the bulls prevail, the ETH/USDT pair may jump to the resistance line. If the ETH price turns down sharply from the resistance line and breaks below the 20-day EMA, it suggests the pair may remain within the channel for some time.

On the other hand, a break and close above the resistance line signals that the bulls are back in control. The pair may then surge toward the $3,050 level.

XRP price prediction

Buyers have pushed XRP (XRP) above the moving averages, opening the door to a rally toward the downtrend line.

XRP/USDT daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

The flattish moving averages and the RSI just above the midpoint do not give either bulls or bears a clear advantage. Buyers will gain the upper hand on a close above the $1.61 level. The XRP/USDT pair may then rally to $2, then to $2.40.

Contrary to this assumption, if the XRP price turns down from the $1.61 level, it would suggest that bears are active at higher levels. That may extend the pair’s stay inside the $1.27 to $1.61 range for a while.

BNB price prediction

BNB (BNB) has been trading near its moving averages over the past few days, indicating indecision between bulls and bears.

BNB/USDT daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

The flattish moving averages and the RSI just above the midpoint suggest that the BNB/USDT pair may remain inside the $570 to $687 range for a few more days.

The next trending move is expected to begin on a close above $687 or below $570. If bulls push the BNB price above the $687 resistance, the pair is expected to gain momentum and surge to $790. Alternatively, a close below $570 signals the resumption of the downtrend toward $500.

Solana price prediction

Solana (SOL) is attempting to rise above the moving averages, indicating demand at lower levels.

SOL/USDT daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

A close above the moving averages may push the SOL price to the $90.73 resistance. Sellers will attempt to defend the $90.73 level, but if the bulls prevail, the SOL/USDT pair may surge to $98. 

On the downside, the bears will need to push the price below $82.65 to gain the upper hand. If they do that, the pair may descend to the solid support at $76. The next trending move is expected to begin on a close above $98 or below $76.

Related: BTC price can ‘easily’ hit $95K: Five things to know in Bitcoin this week

Dogecoin price prediction

Dogecoin (DOGE) has broken above the $0.11 resistance level, clearing the path for a rally toward $0.12.

DOGE/USDT daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

The 20-day EMA ($0.10) has started to turn up, and the RSI is in the overbought zone, indicating that the buyers have the edge. Sellers are expected to mount a strong defense at the $0.12 level, but if buyers bulldoze through, the rally may reach $0.14 and eventually $0.16.

Instead, if the DOGE price turns down sharply from $0.12 and breaks below the moving averages, it suggests that the bears remain sellers on rallies. That may keep the DOGE/USDT pair within the $0.09-$0.12 range for a few more days.

Hyperliquid price prediction

Hyperliquid (HYPE) is maintaining above the 20-day EMA ($41.04), but the long wick on the candlestick shows selling at higher levels.

HYPE/USDT daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

The uptrend is expected to face selling pressure in the $43.76 to $45.77 resistance zone. If the HYPE price turns down from the current level or the overhead zone and breaks below the 50-day SMA ($40.11), the advantage will tilt toward the bears. The HYPE/USDT pair may then tumble to $38.70.

Contrarily, a break and close above the overhead zone signals the resumption of the uptrend. The pair may surge to $50 and then to $51.43.

Cardano price prediction

Cardano (ADA) has risen above the downtrend line, but the bulls are facing stiff resistance at the 50-day SMA ($0.25).

ADA/USDT daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

The RSI has risen just above the midpoint, signaling a slight advantage to the bulls. If buyers push the price above the 50-day SMA, the ADA/USDT pair may rally to $0.29, then to $0.31. Sellers are again expected to pose a strong challenge at the $0.31 level, as a close above it suggests that the pair may have bottomed out in the short term.

The $0.22 level is the critical support to watch out for on the downside. If the ADA price turns down and breaks below the $0.22 support level, it signals a resumption of the downtrend.

Bitcoin drops to $79,000, ETH, SOL, DOGE sharply lower on renewed U.S.-Iran war tensions

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Bitcoin drops to $79,000, ETH, SOL, DOGE sharply lower on renewed U.S.-Iran war tensions

Bitcoin dropped to $79,074 in late Asian hours Monday, reversing nearly $1,500 from a $80,594 intraday high that had marked the highest print since January 31.

The pullback came as Iran’s Fars news agency claimed two missiles hit a U.S. patrol boat near Jask Island after the vessel allegedly ignored Iranian warnings to leave its territorial waters. Brent crude jumped more than 5% to trade above $113 a barrel before paring the gain.

The U.S. denied the report shortly after and said no American ship had been struck. Oil and equity futures pared their initial moves on the denial, but bitcoin held its decline as traders priced in the fragility of the ceasefire that has held since early April.

Other majors followed bitcoin lower from intraday highs but stayed positive on the day.

Ether traded at $2,341, up 1.2% over 24 hours after touching $2,368 earlier. Solana sat at $84.08, up just 0.2% on the day after starting Monday at $85.14. XRP slipped to $1.40 and BNB to $623. Dogecoin held its gains better than most, up 2.3% on the day to $0.1102 with the weekly print still at 12.1%.

The escalation arrived hours after President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that the U.S. would begin escorting ships stranded in the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday, an operation dubbed Project Freedom that involves guided-missile destroyers, aircraft, and drones.

Iran responded by announcing it had “redefined the control zone” in Hormuz, extending its claimed maritime borders to Fujairah and signaling that Tehran would regulate shipping traffic in the area regardless of U.S. operations.

Bitcoin had broken $80,000 for the first time since January, with $301 million in shorts liquidated as the move unfolded earlier Monday. The Senate’s Clarity Act compromise on stablecoin yield, released Friday, had been adding to the risk-on tone heading into the week.

Whether the U.S. denial holds or fresh confirmations emerge from either side will likely set the tape for the rest of the U.S. session.

Laywer pops up on Arbitrum DAO forums seeking funds for victims of decades-old North Korean terrorist acts

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Laywer pops up on Arbitrum DAO forums seeking funds for victims of decades-old North Korean terrorist acts

Arbitrum delegates are in the process of weighing whether to release 30,765 ETH frozen after last month’s rsETH exploit into a coordinated recovery effort. But a lawyer for victims of North Korean terrorism showed up in the forum and told them they couldn’t.

The ether was drained from restaked ETH holders (a representative token of ETH that is locked on another platform for fixed yields) during the April 19 Kelp DAO bridge exploit, which CoinDesk previously reported as the largest DeFi hack of 2026.

The governance post, authored by attorney Charles Gerstein, serves as a restraining notice under New York law on behalf of three sets of judgment creditors holding roughly $877 million in claims against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The claims behind the filing stretch back decades. One stems from the 1972 Lod Airport massacre in Israel, where gunmen killed 26 people, including 17 Puerto Rican pilgrims, in an attack later found by a U.S. court to have been supported by North Korea.

Another involves Reverend Kim Dong Shik, a U.S. permanent resident abducted near the China border in 2000 and later killed in DPRK custody. A third ties to the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, where a federal judge found Pyongyang had supplied weapons and training used in rocket attacks.

The plaintiffs won their cases but North Korea has never paid. With sovereign assets effectively impossible to seize, the families have spent years searching for any North Korean property they can legally collect against to satisfy their judgments.

Gerstein’s filing argues that because U.S. authorities have linked the Lazarus Group, the hacking unit responsible for the exploit, to the North Korean state, the 30,765 ETH frozen by Arbitrum’s Security Council qualifies as North Korean property under U.S. enforcement law.

If the court accepts that framing, the families with unpaid judgments would have a senior legal claim on those funds, ahead of the rsETH depositors who originally held them.

The reason Arbitrum is involved is straightforward: after the rsETH exploit, its Security Council froze 30,765 ETH at a specific address on its network, effectively placing the funds under its control. Gerstein’s filing points to three underlying cases, Calderon-Cardona, Kim, and Kaplan, with writs of execution totaling roughly $877 Million.

The legal tool being used is CPLR §5222(b), a New York enforcement mechanism that allows creditors to freeze assets simply by serving a restraining notice, without first getting a new court order, though the target can challenge it afterward.

Once served, the recipient is barred from moving the assets for up to a year or until the judgment is resolved. Ignoring it can lead to contempt of court, the same category of offense used when someone defies a judge’s order.

The complication here is that Arbitrum DAO is not a company with clear legal status. That means the risk doesn’t neatly attach to “the DAO,” but to whoever a court ultimately decides has control over the frozen ETH.

The filing and legal theory presented drew pushback inside the same forum thread. Delegate Zeptimus argued the legal premise is backwards, writing that the ETH “is not property in which the DPRK has an ‘interest’… It’s stolen property,” and adding that under basic property law “a thief acquires no title.”

In that view, the funds belong to the original rsETH depositors, and the proposed recovery effort is not a redistribution but a return of assets to their rightful owners. Blocking that process, Zeptimus wrote, “shifts the cost of the DPRK’s debt onto a different set of victims who were themselves robbed.”

Delegates had been working through a different set of trade-offs. Entropy Advisors urged a FOR vote, citing the daily interest cost to Aave users with stuck positions. Axia flagged questions about whether the Arbitrum Captive Insurance Product would cover delegates if something went wrong.

Gerstein’s filing sharpens that question considerably, where coverage for ordinary delegate liability is one thing but exposure tied to a live enforcement action is another.

What’s left is a choice between victims. On one side, Aave depositors with positions they can’t close. On the other, families behind decades-old judgments against North Korea, still seeking to collect.

A beginner’s guide to stablecoins

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A beginner’s guide to stablecoins

Are stablecoins stable? Come on, it’s in the name!

Of course, the crypto industry has certainly seen categories misnamed. Anyone remember NuBits? Surely you lost money in Terra? Just last year, DeFi stables, including Synthetix and Ethena, lost their peg. And even robust stablecoins like Circle’s USDC and Tether have seen temporary depegging over the years.

It appears basic questions about stablecoins might actually uncover important lines of inquiry, especially as they relate to the structural risks of a nascent technology. As industries look to adopt stablecoins — sometimes even bypassing the much more battle-tested traditional financial system — it’s probably worth revisiting the answers to these basic questions.

During CoinDesk University’s School of Stablecoins, happening at Consensus 2026, May 5-7 in Miami, we’ll dig under the surface of these questions to give you a strong understanding of why stablecoins are the future and how to implement them into your business to reap benefits.

What is a stablecoin, and how is it different from Bitcoin?

Sam Broner, Founder of the Better Money Company, told CoinDesk he still gets these questions regularly. Bottom line, then: we’re still so early in this technology’s lifecycle. Whereas a stablecoin is a cryptocurrency that keeps a consistent price by being pegged to an asset, like the U.S. dollar, bitcoin’s price moves up and down depending on supply and demand.

Why can’t I just use fiat?

This is a deceptively important question. The idea behind stablecoins, and cryptocurrency broadly, is that it was built for this internet age we now live in. Money should be like the internet — global, real-time, programmable and composable. This innovates on the often clunky architecture of the traditional financial system, where decades of band-aids on an archaic core infrastructure have led to high fees, slow settlement, and inflexible services. So you can use fiat, but during our sessions, we think you’ll be persuaded that stablecoins are the future.

What keeps a stablecoin’s price at $1?

Just like fiat (and crypto), there are different types of stablecoins.

Some keep their peg by having the same amount of collateral in dollars (or euros or whatever fiat they choose) in their coffers. This mechanism design is called fiat collateralized, and it’s how stablecoins like USDC work — they’re backed 100% by cash or cash equivalent assets and are actually redeemable 1:1 with those.

Other stablecoins have what is known as overcollateralization, like DAI. MakerDAO’s stablecoin DAI is backed by overcollateralized loans: it keeps its dollar peg by locking other assets in contracts as collateral for DAI creation.

The last, and slightly controversial, type of stablecoins rely on algorithmic stabilization — that is, computer algorithms are built to manage the supply and demand so that a coin stays pegged to $1. While this is certainly an interesting tech that will continue to be innovated upon, it’s also led to huge failures, subsequently wiping out millions of dollars from the ecosystem.

Still confused? Join any of our CoinDesk University’s School of Stablecoins sessions to talk to the people actually building the stablecoin technology for consumers and businesses.

Who actually holds the money?

With fully backed stablecoins, the issuer holds the money. However, that doesn’t mean that a stablecoin issuer has a bank account and deposits $1 at a time when a new stablecoin is minted.

Instead, fiat-backed stablecoin reserves are usually held by custodians like BlackRock or BNY Mellon. And since each stablecoin issuer decides what their collateral looks like — whether it’s cash or other highly liquid assets — the type of custodian they use will vary based on what actually makes up the reserve.

For overcollateralized stables or coins with algorithmic backing, the issuers usually hold their version of reserves in smart contracts or blockchain-based wallets.

How do I get a stablecoin?

“Even established banks, fintechs, and payment companies that move millions of dollars in transactions every day ask this,” says Better Money Company’s Broner. “And it’s a fair question, because the on-ramps aren’t always obvious.”

So don’t feel embarrassed if you have to ask again. In the cryptocurrency industry, there are exchanges, wallet providers, custodians, payment platforms, plus decentralized and centralized versions of all those. The answer depends on what you’re trying to do with the cryptocurrency after acquiring it.

During CoinDesk University’s School of Stablecoins, you’ll hear from experts in the field about the digital storefronts you can patronize to get your hands on stables and what you can do with them afterward.

What happens if everyone redeems their stablecoins at once?

The U.S. dollar was on the gold standard until 1971 — that meant that you could walk into your bank and demand an equal amount of gold in exchange for dollars at any time. If you did that now, you’d be laughed out of the bank. But fiat-based stablecoins actually still work this way.

If you own a USD-backed stable that’s 100% collateralized, you can redeem it for dollars at any time. If every single person that owned that USD-backed stable went to the issuer to get their dollars at the exact same time (a probabilistic nightmare), hypothetically, everyone would get their money back — it just might not be instantaneous.

As the stablecoin market has grown, issuers have moved away from full cash reserves and instead are filling their reserves with Treasury notes and bonds, all of which should be highly liquid. But as the Silicon Valley Bank collapse showed, when people “run on a bank” that holds stablecoins, the dollar peg can get a little shaky.

What if the government bans stablecoins?

This isn’t as far-fetched as it might sound. In the U.S., the long-awaited CLARITY Act has been held up by unresolved issues, such as banning stablecoin yield (a rightfully tetchy issue). Businesses using stablecoins have been wary of keeping on the right side of regulation, even while getting mixed signals from Washington.

Whether CLARITY ends up passing or not, there’s still a lot to be aware of when using stablecoins in the U.S.. It’s why we invited the Blockchain Association and some of its partners to break down exactly what your business needs to know about policy and compliance.

Are stablecoins safe?

You’ve read the headlines of people losing millions of dollars of cryptocurrency, whether by losing their private keys, having invested in a scam or a project that gets hacked. As we mentioned above, depending on what type of stablecoin you’re investing in, there may be more or less risks associated.

According to Broner, though, that’s rapidly changing as legislation, such as the GENIUS Act, is passed, mandating that stablecoin issuers hold safe collateral as reserves and introducing federal oversight and transparency requirements.

“For an industry trying to earn mainstream confidence, that’s exactly the foundation you need,” Broner says.

Join us live at Consensus 2026 for our School of Stablecoins workshop series to learn more about how you can implement this new payment method for faster, cheaper, more programmable transactions in this new era of business.

Hut 8 cuts bitcoin credit costs with FalconX refinancing, freeing 3,300 BTC from collateral

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Hut 8 cuts bitcoin credit costs with FalconX refinancing, freeing 3,300 BTC from collateral

Hut 8 (HUT), a bitcoin miner turned energy and AI compute company, has refinanced its bitcoin-backed credit facility, replacing its existing Coinbase Credit arrangement with a new $200 million facility with FalconX.

With the new deal, Hut 8 cut its fixed interest rate to 7% from 9%, a 200-basis-point improvement, according to a press release. The move is part of the firm’s focus on lowering its cost of debt on bitcoin-backed credit and broader cost of capital, the company said. The deal also frees up approximately 3,300 bitcoin that were previously pledged as collateral, worth roughly $260 million as of May 1, giving Hut 8 greater flexibility to deploy that capital.

“This refinancing strengthens our balance sheet by decreasing our cost of debt while simultaneously increasing Bitcoin held outside collateral covenants, resulting in additional liquidity to deploy into the growth of our business,” said Sean Glennan, CFO of Hut 8.

“It advances our broader objective of optimizing the role of bitcoin on our balance sheet and lowering our cost of capital,” he added.

The trend of refinancing for better terms continues among mining firms, as they seek to improve their credit terms and free up more capital for their pivot to AI and move away from volatile bitcoin revenues in favor of long-term leases.

Last week, Hut 8 priced $3.25 billion of senior secured notes to fund construction of a 245-megawatt data center at its River Bend campus in St. Francisville, Louisiana, according to an April 28 SEC filing. The project, first announced in December, has a 15-year, $7 billion lease with AI infrastructure firm Fluidstack, backed by Google, with a total potential value of up to $17.7 billion if all renewal options are exercised.

Another miner, Riot, also recently secured improved terms on its $200 million bitcoin-backed credit facility with Coinbase, lowering the rate to a fixed 6.15% from 8.3% and releasing 1,544 of pledged collateral bitcoin, signaling growing lender confidence in its expanding data center business.

Hut 8 shares rose about 1.5% on Monday as bitcoin rallied above $80,000.

Read More: Riot extends $200 million Coinbase credit facility, and bitcoin weakness could mean more sales

A beginner’s guide to AI

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A beginner’s guide to AI

Brush up on the basics, from agentic to generative, before Consensus Miami 2026.

Glamsterdam Upgrade Set To Triple Ethereum’s Execution Capacity

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Glamsterdam Upgrade Set To Triple Ethereum’s Execution Capacity

ePBS, Block-Level Access Lists, and EIP-8037 repricings combine to unlock a 200M gas limit floor, a throughput jump that could keep network fees pinned for years.

Ethereum core contributors gathered above the Arctic Circle in Longyearbyen, Svalbard last week for the Soldøgn Interop, where they aligned on a post-Glamsterdam gas limit floor of 200M, according to a recap published Saturday by Ethereum Foundation protocol support lead Tim Beiko.

That target represents roughly a 3.3x jump from the network’s current 60M gas limit, unlocked by three Glamsterdam workstreams that converged during the week.

The first is enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS), which restructures slot timing with explicit deadlines for block construction, payload reveal, and attestations, giving execution more headroom.

The second is Block-Level Access Lists, specified in EIP-7928, which let clients pre-fetch a block’s read/write set, enabling parallel execution, batched I/O, and parallel state-root computation. The third is EIP-8037, which raises the cost of writing new state, so the higher gas limit doesn’t translate into runaway state growth. Teams dropped an earlier dynamic per-state-byte model in favor of a fixed cost during the week, simplifying both testing and benchmarking.

Smaller Glamsterdam EIPs were also closed out at the interop. EIP-8061 (exit/consolidation churn increase) is in, EIP-8080 (exits via the consolidation queue) was declined, and EIP-8045 was scoped down to proposer duties within the look-ahead window only.

Implications For Fees

A threefold increase in L1 execution capacity, without a matching surge in demand, is likely to keep base fees suppressed. That directly throttles the EIP-1559 burn that has anchored ETH’s “ultrasound money” thesis since the Merge. DeFiLlama data shows that Ethereum’s network fees have been trending lower over the past few years, and Beiko flagged that a further doubling of the gas limit is expected “soon after” Glamsterdam.

Ethereum Monthly Fees

The bull case is that a cheaper, faster L1 pulls back activity that has migrated to L2s, including DeFi flows, tokenized RWAs, and the institutional ETH treasury strategies increasingly leaning on credible scaling. The bear case is that fees stay pinned, ETH issuance turns more inflationary, and the monetary premium on the asset compresses further.

Beiko noted that the 200M target and final repricing numbers will be confirmed on upcoming AllCoreDevs calls. Glamsterdam is expected to ship in the coming months, with the Hegotá fork queued up next.

This article was written with the assistance of AI workflows. All our stories are curated, edited and fact-checked by a human.

Circle (CRCL), Coinbase (COIN) lead crypto stocks rally amid Clarity Act progress

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Circle (CRCL), Coinbase (COIN) lead crypto stocks rally amid Clarity Act progress

Crypto-related stocks rallied Monday, led by Circle (CRCL) and Coinbase (COIN), as progress on U.S. digital asset legislation and bitcoin BTC$80,587.54 breaking above $80,000 lifted sentiment across the sector.

Circle, issuer of the USDC stablecoin, surged 18%, extending recent gains, while U.S.-focused crypto exchange Coinbase rose about 7%. BitGo (BTGO), a digital asset infrastructure firm offering custody and stablecoin services, climbed roughly 10%.

Strategy (MSTR), the largest corporate bitcoin holder, crypto-friendly digital broker Robinhood (HOOD) and Ethereum (ETH) treasury firm Bitmine (BMNR) were also up 3%-4%, underscoring the broad-market advance.

The move came as bitcoin BTC$80,587.54 pushed above $80,000 during the session, reaching its strongest level since late January and providing a tailwind for the broader crypto sector. BTC advanced nearly 2% over the past 24 hours, leading the broader crypto benchmark CoinDesk 20 Index’s 1.2% gain.

Further boosting investor optimism were signs that the long-debated Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, a key piece of U.S. legislation to regulate crypto markets, is moving closer to passage.

A newly released compromise would prohibit stablecoin issuers from offering yield on idle balances, while still allowing rewards tied to usage and transaction activity, according to a Friday text. The approach addresses one of the most contentious aspects of the bill and aligns with earlier discussions in Washington.

Clarity Act progress

That clarification appears to be a pivotal moment that brings the bill closer to passage, according to Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research.

“The latest compromise removes one of the final obstacles for the legislation,” said Thielen in a Telegram message. With the stablecoin yield issue addressed, lawmakers are expected to move toward a formal markup, potentially as soon as this week, he added.

Odds of passage on the prediction platform Polymarket have risen to 64%, reflecting growing confidence that the bill will advance.

Polymarket odds of Clarity Act passing this year (Polymarket)

With that, “equity markets are beginning to price in potential winners,” Thielen said.

Circle, as a regulated stablecoin issuer, is widely seen as a potential beneficiary of clearer rules, particularly if stablecoins are formally positioned as payment tools rather than yield-bearing assets, he said.

The firm’s upcoming earnings, due next week, adds another layer of momentum for the stock, Thielen noted.

After releasing last quarter’s report in February, Circle’s shares surged around 100% in the following weeks, and investors may have started to position for further gains ahead of earnings.

Pentagon Seals AI Deal with Major Vendors, but Anthropic Out

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Pentagon Seals AI Deal with Major Vendors, but Anthropic Out

The U.S. Department of Defense has forged agreements with a group of major tech vendors to use their AI tools on classified networks.

In a statement released on May 1, the department confirmed deals with SpaceX, OpenAI, Google, Nvidia, Reflection, Microsoft, AWS and Oracle.

While provisional agreements had already been in place with some, signed contracts pave the way for the tools to be formally embedded in operations.

The vendors’ AI models and capabilities have been cleared for “lawful operational use,” with the statement adding: “These agreements accelerate the transformation toward establishing the United States military as an AI-first fighting force and will strengthen our warfighters’ ability to maintain decision superiority across all domains of warfare.”

One name notable by its absence from the list of approved suppliers, however, is Anthropic, following its dramatic fallout with the administration earlier this year, following the vendor’s refusal to relax safety guardrails amid concerns its tech would be used for autonomous weapons or domestic mass surveillance.

Related:AI Demand Is Outpacing the Scaffolding to Support It

“I am directing every federal Agency in the United States Government to immediately cease all use of Anthropic’s technology,” President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social platform at the time.

Meanwhile, Secretary [of Defense Pete Hegseth accused the company on X of “trying to strong-arm the United States military into submission” and added: “America’s warfighters will never be held hostage by the ideological whims of Big Tech.”

The dispute is now in court, with Anthropic suing the Trump administration for labeling it a supply chain risk.”

The companies that the defense department agreed to deals with will allow their tech to be integrated into Impact Level 6 (IL6) and Impact Level 7 (IL7) network environments. IL6 refers to networks that handle secret data, while IL7 covers the most highly classified systems.

According to the department, the companies’ provision of resources will “streamline data synthesis, elevate situational understanding, and augment warfighter decision-making in complex operational environments”.

At the same time, the department’s growing reliance on AI was underscored by newly released figures regarding GenAI.mil, its official AI platform that offers access to LLMs in approved cloud environments. The department says more than 1.3 million department personnel have used it, with hundreds of thousands of agents deployed in just five months.

The department also reiterated its ongoing commitment to build an AI stack that prevents vendor lock-in and gives military organizations the tools they need.

Related:Anthropic Launches New Security Tool for Enterprises

 

 

Ethereum Reclaims Key Level, But Can ETH Price Break $2.8K?

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Ethereum Reclaims Key Level, But Can ETH Price Break $2.8K?

Ether’s (ETH) surge to $2,390 on Monday pushed its value above its realized price, implying that the average holder of ETH is now back in profit. But is this enough for the ETH bulls to reach $3,000?

Key takeaways:

  • Ether holders are back in profit, increasing chances for more upside.
  • Ether’s bull flag chart pattern is targeting $3,000.
  • A big potential sell wall exists around $2,800, with 7.1 million ETH on the line.

Ether price rises above its cost basis

Data from TradingView shows that Ether’s price rose 21% to $2,340 on Monday from its local low of $1,940 reached on March 29.

This rally has seen ETH rise above its realized price, or the average cost basis of all moved ETH, currently at $2,320, according to data from Glassnode.

Related: Ethereum Foundation sells another 10,000 ETH to BitMine in third OTC deal

The average ETH holder returning to profit after unrealized losses provides meaningful financial relief for many holders, and perhaps a bullish outlook.

Historically, breaking above this level shifts market sentiment from fear to greed, reducing sell pressure from underwater holders. This often fuels bullish momentum, attracting new buyers and short squeezes.

The chart below shows that when the price reclaimed its realized price in May 2025 after trading below it for roughly two months, it went on to rally 173% to its $4,950 all-time high from $1,800. The gains were 58% after ETH/USD reclaimed its cost basis in early 2023. 

Ethereum: Key pricing levels. Source: Glassnode

Therefore, holding above $2,300 is crucial for the bulls and for a potential retest at $3,000.

Analyst Dami-Defi said that a break above the $2,400-$2,600 would trigger the “most violent move of the year” toward $3,000.

“Once we break $2,400 we will catapult violently to $2,800 – $3,000.”

ETH/USD weekly chart. Source: X/Dami-Defi

As Cointelegraph reported, the ETH/USD pair must overcome resistance at $2,400 to confirm a trend change.

ETH price technical analysis: Bull flag targets $3,000

Ether’s price action has formed a bull flag chart pattern on the daily chart (see below). The price is retesting the $2,350 resistance, where the flag’s upper boundary and the 100-day exponential moving average (EMA) converge. 

A daily candlestick close above this level would open the way toward the measured target at $3,018, roughly 30% above the current price. 

ETH/USD 12-hour chart. Source: TradingView

The daily relative strength index has increased to 56 from near oversold conditions at 36 in late March, suggesting that ETH bulls are returning to the market.

Trader and analyst Cohelson David said a broadening wedge pattern on the 12-hour chart projects an ETH price breakout toward $3,000.

ETH/USD 12-hour chart. Source: X/Cohelson David

However, Ether’s cost basis distribution data shows that investors hold about 7.1 million ETH at an average cost of between $2,750 and $2,850, creating a potential resistance zone.

This concentration suggests that many investors may sell at breakeven, potentially stalling Ether’s upward move.

Ethereum cost basis distribution chart. Source: Glassnode

This article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice or recommendations. All investments and trades carry risk; readers are encouraged to conduct independent research.
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